from abxc; Anthropologist Susannah travels to the fabled French Carmargue after the death of her mother, to see the saint that is responsible for her birth, and the fabled marshes and white horses. She finds a mysterious man and his emotionally damaged daughter, all intertwined with the gypsies of the area who look after the three Mary's, and particularly the slave girl Sarah. Susannah finds much more than she bargained for, and she wants to find the key that will help Grey's daughter Sari (who is named for Sarah) unlock her emotional turmoil. I had read books about the Carmargue horses and the lives of caravan gypsies earlier this year, and that knowledge added more texture to this story. ( )

Didn't realize how much I would like this book because these types of books are generally not my kind but since this is the first time I have ever read a book by Luanne Rice, I decided to give her a chance and guess what? This was a really great book! ( )

Interesting locale an background and most of the adult characters were well drawn. The story was complex enough to be interesting and, if you are a romance fan, this would be a nice choice. The juvenile characters, and, in particular, the key character of Sari, struck me as being inauthentic. I just couldn't make myself believe in this little girl as a real person. The book was in need of some strategic editing. It would have been a much more readable, tighter novel at about 250 pages. The growing affection between Grey and Susannah was adult and well written for the most part; a bit too much in the way of "passionate, lingering kisses" for my taste. ( )

I am not a big romance story fan but I found this story interesting. Albeit much of the romantic interaction is not realistic, but the story line is quite interesting. I have been to southern France and have visited the places in the story. So perhaps this helps. It is somewhat predictable in that it has a happy ending with the child recovering her color vision. ( )

Wikipedia in English (1)

Anthropologist Susannah Connolly, encouraged by her mentor Professor Helen Oakes, travels to the Camargue region in southern France for research and to fulfill a promise to Susannah's recently deceased mother to visit a statue of Sarah, a religious figure of the Romany people whose power supposedly helped Susannah's parents conceive their only daughter. Filled with guilt that she was far away at work when her mother died, Susannah is taunted and branded as indifferent by her former flame Ian Stewart, an ambitious colleague who creepily follows her to France and tries to persuade her to marry him. But after Grey, a French horse rancher, saves Susannah from big trouble in a marsh, their chemistry sizzles in tired prose (Susannah was different from anyone he'd ever known) as Grey, whose wife left him five years earlier, agonizes about bringing a new woman into his family.

Against a backdrop of stunning natural beauty, and in the shadow of a mysterious family legend, one woman is about to discover that to find your way home, sometimes you must travel far away.…

An accomplished anthropologist, Susannah Connolly suddenly finds herself adrift in the wake of a failed love affair and the loss of her mother. Boarding a transcontinental flight on the evening of her birthday, she’s decided to give herself a long-deferred gift. Encouraged by her late mother’s magical stories, she is traveling from the Connecticut shore to the fabled French Camargue, to see its famous white horses and find a mysterious “saint” linked to her family’s history.

Amid the endless silvered marshes, she will find a lonely man, his wounded daughter–and a part of herself she hadn’t known she’d lost…until she realized how hard it would be to lose it again. In Light of the Moon, New York Times bestselling author Luanne Rice delivers a spellbinding story set within a breathtaking landscape where secrets and revelations have the power to change lives forever.

Fulfilling her mother's dying wish, anthropologist Susannah Connolly travels from her lifelong home on the Connecticut shoreline to the fabled French Camargue, to see its famous white horses, find a mysterious saint linked to her family's history, and fall in love with an American journalist-rancher with a spirited but troubled daughter.… (more)